Must-Read: Why We Seriously Need to Re-Think American Health Reform

If you are a concerned citizen (Left, Right, or anywhere in between), and you only get the opportunity to read one article this week, I highly recommend David Goldhill’s new piece in The Atlantic titled “How American Health Care Killed My Father” (H/T We Stand FIRM).

It’s lengthy, but very insightful and thought-provoking. If you or any of your loved ones ever has had to make use of American medical services (or paid for them in many cases without thinking about it), then you are the intended audience.

Do I agree with every conclusion and proposal the author offers? No. Most of them? Yes.

But Goldhill’s bold and candid assessments — informed by a deeply personal and painful encounter with American health care’s systemic problems, as well as by intense and painstaking research — are precisely the kind you cannot imagine coming from the political class. (Though several of the ideas have been offered by Republican Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and could mesh with some of the proposals brought forward by Republican Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan have proposed.)

Just to move the health care “reform” debate more broadly from the current slide into deeper government intervention toward a consumer-centered system like the one Goldhill offers up would be a major victory. And maybe that’s the silver lining we can hope will emerge from the confrontation with the dangerous Obama Care debacle. But if there’s any credence to be given to poll results like those reported today in the Denver Post, a lot of educational work remains to be done.

When it comes to the status quo, we can do better. When it comes to Obama Care, we can do much better! Spread the word around for everyone to read David Goldhill’s piece. And if you haven’t already bookmarked the Patient Power Now blog for regular visits, now is the time to do so. Stay informed and engaged.